Our prior series of community meetings on the Aamodt Settlement were filled to overflowing, and many of you emailed and called asking if we could schedule more to continue to help and answer your questions. And the answer is — yes! We’re here to help.

Today, our Campaign for Change officially filed for re-election. We’re proud to have gathered over 600 signatures from our community in support of continuing our mission to make our legislative process here in northern New Mexico more democratic, more inclusive and more people-friendly.

From the start, our mission has been to put people before politics. To represent rather than to govern, because that’s the way a democracy ought to work. To create an atmosphere where everyone in our community can feel safe to express their point of view and their priorities.

And while we’re on the subject of the people, as a Democrat, I believe that “we the people” means ALL of the people — black, white, Native American, Hispanic, Latino, old, young, male, female, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, Progressive, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green Party, Socialist, Libertarian, Tea Party, Liberal or Conservative. We have always and will continue to welcome everyone’s ideas to make our community better. No political party has a monopoly on good ideas (or sometimes, bad ones!), which is why we’ve worked hard to make sure our voting record reflects the diversity of worldview that makes up our unique community.

To my mind, that’s what being a Democrat means—being open to new ideas even when we disagree, including every member of our community in the discussion and creating solutions that are based on our shared experience of living in this community together in peace.

As a citizen representative, I went to the legislature as one of you — a “people,” not a politician. During our first two sessions in the Roundhouse, our Campaign for Change has done our best to be guided by your priorities. Our votes have been shaped by you — your calls, your emails & letters, in-person town halls, committee events and meetings. We’ve built this Campaign for Change together, putting people over politics every time. Even when it was hard. Even when there was pressure. Even when there was disagreement.

During our first term, we’ve learned a lot. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that there are a lot of good people in our state legislature. Our Campaign for Change has had the privilege of working with many people of

integrity and principle on both sides of the aisle — people who genuinely want to do what’s right for the people they represent. Many of my colleagues in the Roundhouse have shared with us that these last two legislative sessions have been more open and more free of political pressure and intimidation than past sessions have been. Rep. Martinez, our newly elected Speaker of the House, has gone above and beyond to create an environment of respect, freedom and openness where people feel safe to vote for what’s right for their communities without fear of intimidation, reprisals or other strong-arm tactics.

We’re proud to be part of the movement that’s working together to make it happen.

Carl and son Thomas at the courthouse for Filing Day

Of course, there’s lots more to do to make our government here in New Mexico truly open and democratic. And that

change doesn’t happen overnight. But it is happening. We know because we hear from all of you that it’s happening, one step, one day at a time.

We did this, working together. And over the next two years, just imagine what else we can do!